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Two-Thirds of Americans Now Track Key Health Indicators

Almost 7 in 10 U.S. adults track their personal health data in some way — online, using a smartphone, or on paper — according to a new Pew Internet report. But not everyone is sold on the benefits of health tracking.

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MONDAY, Jan. 28, 2013 — Carolyn Thomas, 62, tracks her daily exercise with sparkly stickers. "The sparklier, the better," she says. "At the end of the week, I like to see seven stickers lined up in a row because that means every single day I met my goal of one hour of exercise."

Thomas, of British Columbia, Canada, was diagnosed with inoperable coronary microvascular disease after a massive heart attack in 2008. Her condition is inoperable, chronic, and progressive — she will live with it every day for the rest of her life.

Although she was a long-distance runner for almost two decades before her heart attack, it wasn't until after her diagnosis did she begin to track her exercise in this way. Now, it's a daily "prescription" that has become habit.

This routine makes Thomas one of the 69 percent who track their personal health data in some way, using pen and paper, a website or mobile app, a medical device, or simply in their heads, according to a new report from the Pew Internet and American Life Project. Of the 69 percent, almost half say they keep track of health stats in their heads only.

Almost two-thirds of trackers monitor their weight, diet, or exercise routines. A third track other health indicators, such as blood pressure, sleep patterns, or headaches. People living with chronic conditions are significantly more likely to track a health indicator or symptom, the Pew Internet survey finds — 40 percent of U.S. adults with one chronic condition track some sort of health indicator, and 62 percent with two or more conditions are trackers, while just 19 percent of adults with no chronic conditions say they track health indicators.

Out of all U.S. adults, 45 percent have at least one chronic condition; most likely high blood pressure or diabetes — two conditions that can be effectively managed when people track their own data, according to the Mayo Clinic, among other health organizations.

Among trackers, 46 percent say it's changed their overall approach to maintaining their health. Forty percent say it's led them to ask a doctor new questions or to get a second opinion. A third say it has affected treatment decisions. Among people with two or more chronic conditions, these numbers are even higher.

Numerous studies have found that tracking calories and exercise is more effective for weight loss than a standard diet. Migraine patients are able to predict severe migraines and modify their behavior to help prevent future spells when they keep a headache diary, according to a study recently published in the journal Neurology. Patients with digestive diseases have seen similar results with food diaries. The list of examples goes on and on.

Downsides of Tracking Health Data

Still, not everyone loves to track their data, or record it in the same way. Thomas loves her stickers — and eschews the ever-growing array of body-monitoring devices and health-tracking mobile devices — and she says many people she knows do the same.

Why? There's what Thomas calls the burden of treatment. "Fundamentally, sick people are the least likely to be self-quantifiers," she says. "We just want to be normal. We don't want to be obsessing over our health. From the moment we wake up every day, we're already obsessing over our health. I want to forget that I'm sick."

Blogger and diabetes patient advocate Kim Vlasnick agrees, writing on her blog, Texting My Pancreas, "It’s not enough that we have to live with the disease itself, we also have to live with data management as well."

Too many numbers can have an emotional impact on trackers with or without chronic conditions, says Alexandra Carmichael, the founder of the health tracking site CureTogether.com. Carmichael stopped personal tracking because of its impact on her emotional health. "Each day my self worth was tied to the data. One pound heavier this morning? You’re fat. Skipped a day of running? You’re lazy," she wrote on her blog. "It felt like being back in school. Less than 100 percent on an exam? You’re dumb."

Thomas also says many patients skip tracking apps because they feel available apps aren't suited for them or their condition.

One such patient commented on one of Thomas's blog posts, saying that after she was diagnosed with a chronic condition, she developed an app to track her symptoms because she felt the right technology wasn't already available. As both a tech-savvy patient and software developer, she says she was able to design an app for "sick people," based on what she wanted for herself. "Because I was actively sick at the time, I knew certain things that a healthy person might completely miss – something as simple as not using sliders on a screen because they’re harder to activate (and require more thought) than a button,” she wrote to Thomas.

Why Health-Tracking Technology Works for Some

Still, Ernesto Ramirez is one of the tens of thousands who believe that tracking personal data can have a real benefit. Ramirez is the community organizer for QuantifiedSelf.com, an international meetup group for people who love to track their personal data for what Ramirez calls, "personal self-knowledge creation." "[The quantified self movement] sees self-tracking and quantification of behavior not as a way of life, but as a process to help you understand," Ramirez says. He says he regularly tracks his weight, steps, location via the app Foursquare, and "passive stuff," such as the amount of music he plays from his home computer.

Ramirez says he can see Thomas' point about the divide between tech-savvy people who love to crunch numbers about themselves and the experiences of patients living with chronic conditions. But he believes the divide is growing smaller.

"As more individuals are involved in creating tools for patients, tools and services will be available for a wider number of individuals," he says. "I think we're going to start to see more devices, better sensors, and a lot more physical activity monitors."

As technology improves and rates of chronic disease continue to grow, no doubt the numbers of highly engaged trackers will, too. But Thomas remains unconvinced about the tech side of tracking. "I see significant challenges in convincing people like me who are living with a debilitating chronic illness to somehow embrace technology as their digital savior," she wrote on her blog. "How are health tech start-ups planning to address this particular demographic? Or are they even going to bother?"

TELL US: Do you track any of your health data? Share your experiences in the comments. (Note: Mobile users won't be able to comment.)

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